We spent a crazy long time designing our home, deliberating over every detail… and I’m so excited to share the exterior of our home with you here today, from my thoughts on choosing the perfect grey paint to decorating your front porch for a classic look!
There are so many decisions to make when it comes to renovating or building a house, and choosing the finishing and colours for the exterior is a pretty big one. It’s something you kind of want to get right the first time!
We ended up choosing a Hardy board shake from Woodtone instead of a wood shake for the durability element. I’ve always love that look, a bit of a Cape Cod vibe. We live in a very dry climate here with a full range of seasons and the Hardy product, made from concrete, was the best product.
I really liked the grain pattern in this product (I didn’t think I would care until I started looking) and after looking at the stock colours, we decided to have it custom painted. Woodtone offers the service of custom painting your product in their facility so that it doesn’t have to be painted after installed (MUCH more work that way). They were amazing to deal with and the product ended up being so much nicer than if we had painted it by hand (never mind all the time we saved).
Now, let’s talk about choosing a paint colour. WHY is it so difficult? Greys are impossible – almost as impossible as whites. I knew that I wanted to use the Benjamin Moore colours, and since I had already gone through it on the inside, the trim colour was an easy one: Simply White. It is the colour that I used ALL over our house inside, or the wall and trim colour and even for the paint colour for my kitchen and bathroom cabinets). Simply White is a warm white but not too yellow: it’s my favourite! If you’re interested in our kitchen renovation check out this post.
I quickly realized that the greys that I was choosing were too light for an exterior application. Grey Owl for instance was one I really like, but it essentially looks white outside. I fumbled through about 20 greys, buying those little sample pots and painting them on foam boards I bought from the dollar store (best way to test out the colours fyi). One tip: make sure to have the boards or samples standing upright on the outside of the house when you look at the colours, not laying flat.
I quickly realized that you need to choose a darker colour for the outside due to all of the natural light – otherwise it just looks washed out. We ended up going with Sea Haze which is a lovely warm grey with a hint of blue/green in it, and did it at 50% which means that the colour is only 50% saturated (just ask them at the paint store). I LOVE it and wouldn’t change a thing! That being said I wouldn’t be afraid to use it at full strength either, it is such a nice grey.
Our front porch is a decent size so I wanted to source lights that were a bit oversized – which weren’t easy to find! I found these ones pictured above and bought them in two sizes – the largest ones (3 light) for the front door and the 2 light ones for beside the garage. The white mailbox and this amazing oversized natural fibre rug were good finds to complete the look!
I originally had a couple of smaller planters beside the front door but realized that they looked dwarfed in that space. We worked with the sweetest team at Better Earth Garden Centre in Kelowna to put together these amazing planters with cascading white flowers (mostly petunias) and top grafted lilac trees. We kept the trees in pots in case we want to switch them up for the winter (they will have to be pulled out of the planters and planted over the winter or kept inside). Go pay them a visit if you live in the area, they have such a great selection and are a pure joy to work with.
All of our doors, windows and garage doors are from Home Depot and are Jeld-wen brand. Our hardware is from Emtek – we went with the Melrose design pictured above (Max’s fingerprints not included lol). We chose to finish the front porch step with Trex, which is a composite material that will last forever (also from Home Depot). Our driveway is poured concrete.
If you have any questions just ask away below! Thank you for following along on our adventure!
xo
Tori
Would u post a floor plan or is that too personal? Love your home!!
We hopefully will be soon!
Where did you purchase your outdoor lights from? Just beautiful!
Hey Jenny! Thanks so much! These were a Wayfair purchase but they are no longer available. They may have similar style though! xx Tori
Looks amazing! We are currently renovating our exterior and am wondering what brand and colour of roof you chose!
Thanks in advance! Erin
Hi Erin! Sorry I can’t find the information – our roofer is no longer around and he chose it!
Is your roof more black or gray with your house color?
Hi Beth it is a charcoal grey!
What paint and colour did you use for your deck??
Hi Kaetlyn it isn’t painted it is Trex, a composite product!
Absolutely love this! Can you share the colour of your doorstep as well? Thank you!
Hi Emily! It is Trex and Gravel Path is the colour!
Beautiful! Let me clarify, as we are just in the process of looking at hardie plank for our house. Your entire house is done in hardie shakes??
We have Hardie planks on one side as well
you have a lovely home
thank you!!
It looks so good!! Can you advise the exact model of your front doors? I’m having a hard time finding the double doors online.
Thank you!
Sorry for the delay! I can’t seem to find the exact model on the fridges I’m so sorry!!! I will try to dig them up!
Hi Tori – were you ever able to locate the model of the front doors by chance? Thank you!
Hi Laura! Sorry but I wasn’t able to find the exact link! They emailed it to me ages ago but now I can’t find it – if you bring a picture of mine into Home depot they will be able to match it up to the right one!
What is the up keep of the hardy board shack? Like how often would you have to paint the exterior of your home?
Love❤️Your house! Just wondering about the roof though? Brand? Colour?
Tammy thank you! The roof is just standard asphalt charcoal shakes – I’m not sure of the brand as our roofer used it and he is no longer around to ask sorry! Apologies for the delay here, I just found the comment in an old folder.
Your home is beautiful! I am picking out colors for my exterior and replacing my roof. What color is your roof? It all looks so nice together! Thank you!
It’s a charcoal colour!
WOW – stunning, so different to homes where I live! My favourite parts are the lights and the front doors.
Thank you!
Is the Melrose Hardware you chose the Satin Nickel Finish?
Beautiful:)
What colour is your poured concrete?
Thank you so much for this post – love the transformation and end result! Would you be able to share the brand name, style name, and colour of your roof? Thank you.
Hi Johanne, oh gosh I don’t know! It was just a standard asphalt shingle roof in a charcoal shade!
What is the color of the inside of your front door?
It’s the same as the exterior!
So beautiful! Was wondering what color you chose for the white trim?
Hi Nicole, it is Simply White!
Beautiful Tori! We chose the same exterior lights for our home thanks to you! Can’t wait. Love the hardy board – everything you chose is stunning ❤️. (Also made your Granny’s beet rolls as an addition to our Ukrainian Christmas Eve this year! They were a hit!)
Hi Alexandra, thank you!!! I’m so happy you liked the beet rolls too! Happy New Year! xo
Such a beautiful home! Would you be able to share pictures of the sides and back?
Thanks Natalie I will try to do that!
Am I to assume your windows and doors are Jeld-wen not genweld? Typo?
Hi Shannon yes absolutely – it must have either auto corrected it … or I just somehow mis spelled it! I’ll fix it thanks!
Wow, so beautiful. I am painting my house exterior and the colors you chose are gorgeous. I have Simply White for my interior trim and love it! So the full color of Sea Haze was too dark? Also, I have a front porch that is white. Do you think the Simply White would be good for exterior trim plus front porch? Thank you! So glad you shared this with your fans.
Hi Brittany! I actually love the full strength of Sea Haze too – honestly such a nice colour and I wouldn’t be afraid to do it at full strength it would give you more of a contrast which would be nice. I totally think Simply white for it all! xx Tori
Tori – beautiful home upgrades! I love the exterior color! Did you ever consider teaming up the Sea Haze shakes with stone? We are considering this color in shakes with a stone arched front entrance. A white stone would be pretty but hard to maintain. Would a lighter grey look good?
Hi Taylor! We didn’t for our home but I think a light grey would look nice!
Love your style and home! I’m looking for a rug similar to yours for our front entry, but the link for yours takes me to the mailbox, do you have the details for the entry mat? Thank you!
Hi Leah, ours is from Wayfair but it looks like they don’t have the exact same one anymore. I’ve linked a similar one in the home section of our shop page!
Hi Tori! Can you share some of the plants you used in your landscaping? My husband and I love the green and white theme, and need some ideas on what to use in our yard. Thank you!
Hi Kathryn! We used a lot of lilacs and hydrangeas and lavender – that is 90% of it. I also love boxwoods and have a lot of those. So exiting – have fun!!
Hello Tori,
I was hoping you would share the name of the grey you chose for your siding?
Also, where did you find the exterior light sconces and your mailbox?
Exact look I’m going for!💕
Thank you.
Hi Kelly,
The grey is called Sea Haze by Benjamin Moore we had it painted at 50% (less saturation). The Light sconces and mailbox were from Wayfair! I think I linked them in that post?
This is a really great content, I can see how detailed you have gone through and explained about our exterior home reveal. I love this article, thanks for producing such great contents. I love your posts always.
Thank you so much!
Tori
Hi Tori! This is so beautiful! How did you go about getting the grids on the windows? Was that a custom order through Home Depot? All of the Jeld-wen windows on their site are just plain. Thanks for any info!
Hi Briar, thanks for the note. Yes they came like this – if you go to the order desk and show them a picture of my house they should be able to help you, they are custom order!
Do you have a custom tint on the glass so you can’t see in but can see out? We are looking for something similar.
Hi Carla! No, I don’t believe I have a tint like that on my house.
Hi love the exterior color! Question any suggestions for like a deck color or porch color I like the one you have in the pic but I’m afraid the upkeep might be too much for that color grey any other deck or porch suggestions?
Hi Maile sorry for the delay here! I’m not too sure about other suggestions as this is the only one I have experience with. The upkeep is really not much in my experience but you could try another colour if you are concerned, I think that Home Depot carries this! Take care, Tori
Can you please show a picture of the sides and back of the house? Did you use hardie shakes exclusively? I have a similar looking house and was thinking of mixing siding styles? It is gorgeous! Thank you so much for posting the color, I have been struggling with grays and whites also.
Hi Angie, they are the same but on the sides we used Hardy plank! It was less expensive and still looks nice. Warmest wishes, Tori
So beautiful! Love your front doors and garage door. We are changing our doors as well can you tell me if you custom ordered both the front doors and garage door from home depot from Jen-wen and what is the colour white you used on the garage door and front door? Thank you!
Thanks Francis yes they are both from Home Depot and painted Simply White by Benjamin Moore!
Looks so good!! Did you knock the house down and restart again or use existing walls/existing structure?
Thank you Liz! Yes we kept the foundation and a couple of existing exterior walls and started from scratch!
Love everything about this house!! Did you have your garage painted too or is this the original color?
Hi Diana! Thank you yes this is painted the same colour!
Beautiful!! did you use simply white on exterior as well?
No we didn’t!
Do your simply white front doors have a wood grain in them or are they a flat finish? If a wood grain, what type of grain did you go with?
Hi, would you share color of front porch painted floors?
Hi Lindsey they are a Trex product I think it was Gravel Path
Hi Tori,
Wondering if you would be able to link the door from Home Depot. I can’t seem to find it online and I LOVE it.
Hi Jaclyn I can’t find it online either sorry!!!
Beautiful homes!
The links for exterior lighting is no longer working would you have manufacturer and style name?
Hey Kelly! I think they are no longer available – I am totally unable to find them online! Sorry!They are a Gunnora 3-light & 2-light outdoor wall light.
Your house looks stunning! Can you share the sheen of your various paint colors?
Hi Iris! The exterior is a standard grade – it would be a flat finish. Inside the walls are all eggshell and the trim is satin. I hope this helps!
Is your door wood or steel? You have a beautiful home!
Hi Stephanie it is steel! Thank you!
If you had shutters what color would you paint them to coordinate?
Hi Candace, I would have painted them white likely!
What kind of boxwoods did you plant?
Green Gems!
Hello! I absolutely love your house! I’m doing the exterior of my house and tempted to paint it the same color as yours. Now that you have lived with yours a few years, anything you would change or still loving it?
Hey Sara! Honestly, I love the colour of the exterior! 🙂
I’m happy to hear that! I am pretty set on doing the same! What sheen did you use for the body and trim?
Your home is gorgeous. Would you mind sharing what color did you use for your exterior trim, front door and Garage?
Hey Catherine! I went with BM Simply White! A tried-and-true favourite of mine.
Hi,
Am considering a shingle painted SW Worldly Gray. Saw this shingle in person on a much larger house and loved it. The fronts of both houses have a southern exposure. Any advice about this color will be appreciated. Your house is beautiful! Thanks
Hi JoAnn, thank you for the kind words! I am sadly not familiar with that colour so I’m afraid I am not going to be much help here. I know it’s a big choice to make! Good luck and have fun with the house build! Take care, Tori
Hello! What colour is your exterior light and exterior door handle?
Hey Katie! They are both silver!
Hi came across this beautiful house. Curious as to what color roof you used?
Hi Ali it is a dark charcoal colour I don’t know the official name!
Hi Tori,
Did you have your door custom painted at the factory with BM Simply White, or did you have it painted by a local company/contractor?
We are currently in the process of researching for a new door! Thanks!
Hi Jessica it was painted by a local painter!
Hi! I am in the process of building my house and picking a siding colour. I stumbled upon your website during my search. I can’t decide if I want to go with full strength BM Sea Haze or half strength like you did. Do you think the full strength colour will look a lot darker than your photo? Love your website!
Hi Milena, I have seen Sea Haze at 100% strength and it is stunning – it is just darker of course! I actually really like the contrast and if I were to go back, I would have considered doing it. You can paint a big board of each and hold it up to your home vertically to see how you like each is my best recommendation!
Thank you!
And thanks for the kind feedback and for following along! Tori
Hi! Love this! I’m about to pain out cedar shakes and you have provided the perfect color.
I click on the lighting link and it doesn’t take me to the fixture. Can you please post a direct link?
Hey Grethel! Sorry about that, it looks like Wayfair does not have them anymore! Let me try and find a link for you.
Tori
Hey Grethel! Here you go!
https://www.wayfair.ca/lighting/pdp/three-posts-bevin-2-bulb-165-h-beveled-glass-outdoor-wall-lantern-trpt2035.html?piid=23339330
xx Tori
Hey
Love the colour of your house! Thank you for posting the color grey you chose. Where did you find that large doormat? I’ve been looking and it isn’t easy to get big ones like that!
Hi Emily! I got it from Wayfair!